Nintendo Details Wii U's Miiverse

What's in the box?

Today Nintendo President Satoru Iwata delivered another Nintendo Direct livestream, in which he detailed some of the Wii U’s functionality with a focus on Nintendo’s new online service, Miiverse.

When you first power-up the Wii U, you'll be taken to Warawara plaza where you'll make a Miiverse account. Each Wii U will be able to support up to twelve different accounts, with each one containing unique save game data, browser bookmarks and other user-specific information. The interface is strongly reminiscent of the 3DS's.

Each account will have a Nintendo Network ID which can also be used on different devices other than official Nintendo hardware. Nintendo said over the coming years it will make some services like Nintendo eShop or Miiverse available on other devices PCs to smartphones.

Iwata also demonstrated how Miiverse will provide a helpful, informative community while playing specific games. Say you only get a silver medal on a level in New Super Mario Bros. Wii U. You can now turn to the Miiverse community for advice on how to claim gold next time. If you die several times, you'll be asked to talk about your frustration on Miiverse. You can choose to follow reliable or particularly help contributors, and there's even a function to hide spoilerific contributions. Iwata also said that Miiverse functionality can be integrated without additional work for developers.

In order to use many of the online services, you'll need to perform a system update which will available on launch day.

Incidentally, Iwata also used the opportunity to don a pair of immaculate white gloves and unbox the Wii U himself, removing the console, holding the GamePad aloft, and (less exciting) unpacking various cables.

And had a rather awkward video conference with US Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime, in which he doodled on Reggie's face:

Nintendo's new console Wii U will be released in North America on November 18, Europe on November 30, and in Japan on December 8.